Auburndale, FL – Senior Matt Holiday (Syracuse, NY) drove in six runs in game two of Thursday’s doubleheader on a pair of long home runs, including a grand slam, but the Clarkson University Baseball team was outslugged 6-1 and 15-9 to end their annual Florida trip.
The Golden Knights fell to 4-6 overall and start conference action this weekend at Vassar. The Brewers have begun their season with a 1-4 record.
In game one of the doubleheader between Clarkson and Anderson, the Golden Knights fell behind by a run in the second inning as a single up the middle plated a leadoff double to give Anderson a 1-0 lead. The Green and Gold responded in the top of the third as Pete Clarke (Tully, NY) led off the inning with a double to right on the first pitch he saw. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Clarke would score on a single to center by Cale Giroux (Cortland, NY). Unfortunately for Clarkson, that would the be the last hit they would get in the contest as Anderson starting pitcher Kyle Dillon shut down the Knights over the final four innings, limiting Clarkson to just a single base runner, an error in the fifth.
Anderson wasn’t done scoring, however, as the team pushed across two in the fourth on a two-run homer by Michael Tucker, and three more in the fifth on a sacrifice fly and another two-run homer from Cody Young.
Matt Giordano (Liverpool, NY), Matt Holiday, Clarke and Giroux each picked up hits for Clarkson, and Giordano stole his ninth base of the season and the 42nd of his career, as he surpassed Willie Gould for third place all-time at Clarkson in steals.
Kyle Moldoff (Nassau, NY) took the loss for Clarkson, pitching five innings and allowing nine hits, but striking out four and walking just one. Vince Baldwin (Catskill, NY) pitched one scoreless inning of relief for the Knights.
In game two, the Knights fell behind by six runs as a three-run triple in the third had Clarkson looking at a blowout. However, the Knights responded with four in the bottom of the inning, including two on a home run from Holiday. Falling behind 11-4 in the very next inning, the Knights picked up four more runs on a grand slam from Holiday. Unfortunately for Clarkson, that would virtually end the scoring for the home team as the Knights picked up just one run in their final at bat and Anderson continued to scrap for a run here and there to push the score to its 15-9 final.
Holiday’s day consisted of a 2-for-4 performance at the plate in the second game with six runs driven in, giving him 15 for the season through 10 games, which is four ahead of his team-leading total in 2008. He also already has eight extra-base hits with four doubles, a triple, and three home runs for a .931 slugging percentage.
Pete Clarke was 3-for-3 with two runs scored in the second game. Brady Torbitt (Fulton, NY) went 2-for-4 and Justin McInerney (Grand Island, NY) was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored.
Baldwin, who finished the first game of the doubleheader, took the loss as the starter in game two, pitching three innings.
